#016-Things Thursday: Cleaning the air without planting trees and more

CityTree by GreenCity Solutions is an IoT device that monitors and cleans the air with plants.

In this week’s Things Thursday, we have a lot for the future, but also a lot focused on health. What if some devices

Disney Research’s technology could transform IoT landscape (via Android Authority)Disney Research is one of the premier IoT/emerging technology labs in the world. They’ve got offices in Switzerland, Pittsburgh (in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University) and, of course, California. You might be surprised that Disney is doing scientific research, but when you think about the theme park business, it makes sense. Disneyworld and Disneyland are like miniature cities. So, from the lab comes another cool project from them. They’ve figured out how to reduce the power and improve the connectivity of IoT devices without an antenna. This is important for sensors that may have little to no external power options. They’ve also done research on powering devices without traditional power sources. Keep an eye on them.

Microsoft Research’s ‘Emma Watch’ helped a Parkinson’s patient write again (via Wareable)Pretty amazing work from Microsoft Research. Parkinson’s wreaks havoc on your central nervous system and can make everyday activities a challenge. A researcher at Microsoft is building a device to reduce tremors for people living with Parkinson’s. In order to help people write or draw, the watch has tiny motors that vibrate on the patient’s arm, disrupting the feedback loop of the central nervous system. It’s pretty amazing. Click through and watch the video.

Connected trees will be scrubbing the air in a city near you soon (via ReadWrite)Smart cities will not just be connected and gathering data, but they will help cities perform better. GreenCity Solutions are building these amazing benches that have plants and sensors embedded in them. They claim that their benches can filter the same amount of air as 275 planted trees. This means less watering needed, but the benefit of filtration from the plants is pretty great. Currently, CityTree is only in the European market and they have plans to expand to the US in late 2018. Even still, it’s a great example of how to green a space and provide some seating options. To find out more about why smart cities matter to REALTORS, check out my post on Building Functioning Cities.

That’s all for Things Thursday this week. Have questions? Want us to cover something? Let us know. You can follow us on Twitter @crtlabs or Facebook